Reyes, Alfonso, 1889-1959

Alfonso Reyes Ochoa, 17 May 1889 in Monterrey, Nuevo León – 27 December 1959 in Mexico City; parents were Bernardo Reyes and Aurelia Ochoa. His father was in important government positions during the government of Porfirio Díaz, such as the governorship of Nuevo León and the Secretary of War and Navy. Alfonso Reyes was educated primarily in Mexico City; In 1909, he and other like-minded young intellectuals such as Martín Luis Guzmán and José Vasconcelos, founded the Ateneo de la Juventud to promote new cultural and aesthetic ideals and educational reform in Mexico. Other writers as Julio Torri and Pedro Enríquez Ureña also were part from the Ateneo and literary mates of Reyes. At the age of 21, Reyes published his first book, Cuestiones estéticas; obtained his law degree in 1913; During his time in Spain, where he resided from 1914 till 1924, it was considered his best creative period and when he became a great writer and master of literature;